| Upon their arrival in the United States, International students' interactions with the target language group outside classroom situation constitute one of their biggest social experiences. Their adjustment to their new environment creates some problems. Their experience of adjustment is manifested differently as some may suffer from differences in cultures in relation to the American cultural values, while some may just feel homesick and become lonely. Other may suffer from the loss of their status back home and may not regarded by their American peers as they should be. The paper seeks to understand the complex nature of international students' exposure to English outside the classroom influenced by some factors such as motivation, acculturation, identity and learning styles as supported by some prominent researchers in the field of second language acquisition such as Gardner, Schumann, Norton and others. While looking into the difficulty of international exposure, the paper will strive to come up with some tentative solutions and suggestions for the success of international students. Their success will not only depend on the overcoming of the limitative factors but also on the effort of host institutions and teachers to help their students adjust to their new life. |
